Testimony of Leslie Harris before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection

Chairman Rush, Ranking Member Whitfield, and members of the Subcommittee:

On behalf of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), I thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Chairmen Rush and Boucher have shown great leadership in putting the issue of consumer privacy legislation back on the Congressional agenda. In a complex global economy, CDT believes a comprehensive set of rules for the collection and use of consumer data is long overdue.

The bills that are being discussed today provide the essential building blocks for a modern and flexible consumer privacy law based on established fair information practices that safeguard consumer privacy and encourage economic growth. Chairman Boucherʼs draft was a promising and important step on the road to omnibus legislation. Chairman Rushʼs BEST PRACTICES bill builds on that draft to significantly advance the discussion.

In my remarks today, I will comment on some of the most important building blocks drawn from these bills and offer a few suggestions for improvement. In the next week, CDT will submit a side-by-side analysis of the two bills with additional recommendations to reconcile the two into a final bill that I ask be included in the record.